Cultivator



l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VERNON EEoDEs, O E MEMPHIs, 'rENNEssEEy oULTiv'AroR. y

SPECIFICATION frming pain of Letters Patent Ne.' 381,169. eared April 17, 188B. f'

A pplication filed January 11,1888. Serial No. 260.420. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern.- i v l Be 4it known that I, VERNON RHODES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Memphis,

1 in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Culti vators, flcation.V

My invention relates to improvements in cultivators for drilled crops, either in garden or field; and it has for its object to provide a devicein the general form of a rake,withwhich the soil upon both sides of a drill or row may be cultivated'atthe same time.

A further object of vthe invention is to proof which the following is a-specil5 vide means whereby the soil may be drawn inf the drill and hilled up on opposite sides thereof.

The invention consists, further, in a headf having an arch or bowat its center, the teeth arranged on both sides of the arch, and cutters atl the back of the arch and at the ends of the head.

novel details of construction and comblnatlon,

which 'are hereinafter vmore fully set forth in `connection with the accompanying drawings,

whereinf f r Figure 1 is 'a perspective View ofthe improved cultivator.

' or` triangular-shaped teeth.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A des ignates the head of thecultivator, which conf yp sists of a bar comprising the slightly dow-nf erably formed of an integral bar of metal, the

an arch-and the teeth arranged on both sides Thek inventionconsists,further, in certain A Fig. 2 is a front`view of e the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view. Fi fr. 4 is a detail view of one ofthe wedge shaped` arch bei eg'then formed by. simply be'ndingthe central portioniof the barupward. f D D represent wedge or triangular shaped teeth, all of the samelength, whicharesecured lto the under side of the arms B, the arch G not \f ,f being provided iwith teeth. Therefore it Will n be seen that a central toothless space, E, isarj ranged between thetwoseries of teeth. The. back of the arch isr reduced or tapered toa cut, 6o ting-edge, as seen at F, thereby kforming a cut ter, andthe ends of'thehead are also provided. J

with cutters G G, for a purpose to be herein,-

after explained. f

- K K represent the' first teeth on eachside of 6 5V f the central toothlessrspace, and they are arvranged slightly in frontof the line of theother .'teethfso that they cut into the soilin advance of the other teeth. The teeth K are preferably of the ordinary round or angular shape.

L represents the handle of the ,cultivatorg which 'is attached in any ordinary or preferred manner to the center of the arch; or, if preferred, the end ofthe handle may be provided with branchesLwhich are secured to thearmsu B B at intermediate points'of their length.

It will be seenfrom the foregoing description` l that the improved cultivator consists, essenvtially, of two rakes connected together at their` inner endsybya toothless arch,which arch spans '8o the drill or row of plants, while the teetheul- Y tivate the soil on both sides thereof atthesame time. t Y o Y. The teeth -K whichareadjacent tothe central space, andtherefore pass close to the drill `8 5 which is being cultivated, cut into and loosen.

the soil in. advance ofthe other teeth, and the teeth D, having their inner faces inclined to-v ward the central space, draw the earth inward I to vtill the furrow formed by the teeth K. kThe sides of the drill. Y

The tool is used in the same manner asfan, i

ordinary rake, being drawn toward the operator, and the earth on both sides of arrow ^of V `plants is loosened and hilled up against the a lants.

lar purpose,they, however, being adapted forv i 9o i earth is also hilled up'slightlyupon opposite The cutting-edge F, herei'nbefor'e described v 5 i Y recI .f f

use in cutting out the weeds and grass which grow between the plants in the drills. Thus the tool combines the advantages'of a cultivator and hiller and a weeder.

As before stated, the arms of the head are inclined slightly downward toward their outer ends, while the teeth are all thesame length. The object of this is to cause the earth to be cultivated deeper at a distance from the drill than it is close to the same. The same result may be accomplished by making the arms of the head horizontal and making the teeth near the outer ends thereof longer than at their inner ends; but I prefer the construction which is herein shown. The object in either case is to arrange the lower ends of the teeth so t-hat those near the ends of the head cut deeper into the soil than those which are nearer to the plants. l

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a cultivator, the combination of the head A, the teeth D, secured thereto on opposite sidesof a central open space, E, and the teeth K, adjacent to the space Eand arranged in front of the line of the other teeth, substantially as specified.

2. In a cultivator, the combination of the head A, the transversely wedge-shaped or triangular teeth D, secured thereto and disposed with their inner sides, or the sides toward the center, inclined inward toward the rear, and

their outer sides parallel with the line of motion of the cultivator, whereby the soil will be drawn inward toward the center, as and for the purpose hereinbefore specified.

3. In a cultivator, the combination of the head having the central arch, C, provided on its back or upper side with acutter, F, and the teeth secured to the lower side of the head on opposite sides of the said arch, substantially as specified.

4. The improved cultivator herein described and shown, having a head provided with acentral arch or bowed portion reduced or tapered toward its Vupper edge or back to form a cuttingedge, F, for thepurpose described,the teeth attached to the head, and the cutters arranged at the ends of the head, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a cultivator, the head having a central bowed portion or arch provided at its back or `upper side with a cutting edge, F, and the teeth attached to the head,substantiall y as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim thc foregoing as my own I have hereto aiixed my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

VERNON RHODES.`

Witnesses:

B. A. SHEPHERD, H. S. SPINNING. 

